


A Hidden, Reckless Softness

by iulia_linnea



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-16
Updated: 2012-11-16
Packaged: 2017-11-18 19:31:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/564492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iulia_linnea/pseuds/iulia_linnea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Severus knows the secret to keeping a lover.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Hidden, Reckless Softness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rory8](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=rory8).



> Written on 20 July 2008 in response to [rory8](http://rory8.livejournal.com/profile)'s prompt of _Snape/Harry, time-turner, number and, book._
> 
> This story has been [translated into Russian](https://ficbook.net/readfic/4653284) by [lir_oi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/lir_oi/profile)! *dances* Thank you, [lir_oi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/lir_oi/profile)!

Harry found the book after shifting a number of old packing cartons out of the attic. This one looked different; the carton wasn't as dusty as the others had been, and the book was an old, well-worn leather affair. 

_A journal?_ Harry thought, opening it to a random page and beginning to read aloud: "—so soft, softer than the first time, even though I know that isn't possible. He yielded to me, allowed my tongue to dance with his, pressed his hips into my—"

"What are you doing up there?" Severus called.

Harry yelped and dropped the book. "Er, just going through some old things of mine. I thought I might find something for the auction. Is lunch ready?"

"Just leave my things alone, and yes," Severus replied, his footsteps fading as he walked away.

Picking up the journal, Harry noticed an odd heaviness to it in the lower part of its spine. After some fiddling, a compartment opened and a small silver device fell into his hand. 

"What's Severus doing with a—"

"ARE YOU COMING?"

"Be right there!" Harry shouted, pocketing the Time-Turner and carefully secreting the journal in one of the cartons he'd left by the stairs. He sensed a mystery and wanted to explore it later.

~*~

Harry found the book after shifting a number of old packing cartons out of the attic. This one looked different; the carton wasn't as dusty as the others had been, and the book was an old, well-worn leather affair.

 _A journal?_ Harry thought, just as Severus levitated through the attic's opening. "Is that lunch?" he asked, smiling and setting aside the book.

"It is. I thought you might wish to take it here, given how intent on rummaging you are today," Severus said, handing Harry a plate and reaching for the old book. "Ah," he murmured, opening the tome, "old recipes of Mother's. I think I'll just keep this."

Harry, his mouth too full to do otherwise, smiled.

~*~

Severus left Harry to it, feeling relieved. The Time-Turners hadn't all been destroyed; only idiots gave up such things when ordered, and he'd found a particular use for his.

Living with Harry was, for the most part, uneventful, if one didn't count the myriad social obligations of the wizard world's favourite, the endless "family" get togethers, the long nights spent alone while Harry was on assignment or Severus found himself unable to leave his laboratory. Of course, Severus counted all these things, and often wished for a simpler time, a time in which Harry had been mostly his, and content not to leave the hovel in the Forbidden Forest in which he'd found Severus after the war.

When he and Harry fought, or he was missing Harry, Severus had taken to revisiting that first perfect moment, the one in which Harry had yielded to him—to anyone—for the first time: their first kiss under the stars. It had been fifteen years since Harry had let Severus press his trembling mouth to his firm one, since Harry had welcomed Severus as his lover, and, sometimes, Severus needed to turn back time and relive the softness of Harry's mouth, the quivering hardness of his body, the moment when they became one.

 _Romantic nonsense!_ Severus told himself, clutching his journal, which he secreted in a safer location at once.

He had no other secrets from Harry but this one, and it, he meant to keep.

 _Because should he tire of me, the Time-Turner will give me a second chance_.

Merlin knew that Severus had always needed those second chances; forging a lasting relationship with someone like Harry, well, he couldn't imagine having done it any other way.

 _And there is no living without you_ , Severus thought, smiling as he entered the kitchen to find Harry waiting for him.

"Thought I'd thank you properly," he said, embracing Severus and leaning up to kiss him.

_So soft, even now._


End file.
